Charles Steinkuehler wrote:
> david nicol wrote:
>> Is this still true?  Do IDE drivers still lock up?  Do IDE interfaces
>> still burn out? What goes wrong with IDE anymore?  Does anyone have
>> any recent personal experience of IDE failure?
> 
> I just had a 60 Gig IBM IDE drive bite the dust.  Much less than a year 
> old (maybe 6-8 months...I'd have to check reciepts), and currently being 
> processed by the new IBM/Hitachi Drive spin-off RMA folks.

UPDATE:
I just recieved my replacement drive from Hitachi/IBM.  The drive was 
returned via UPS 2-day air on Monday, Jan. 6th, which is the *FIRST* day 
the new IBM/Hitachi drive unit took over RMAs from IBM proper.  The 
drive was returned via Airborne, and according to the package label was 
shipped on Jan. 20th (turn-around time of apx 1-1/2 weeks, excluding 
transit time).

Only time will tell how well the replacement drive will fare, but other 
than the small orange "servicable used part" sticker found on most IBM 
RMA exchanges, it looks to be a brand new drive.  The manufacture date 
is indicated to be Jan. 2003, and it looks like some of the chip 
date-codes are '03, so they sure don't waste any time getting product 
out to the customers!

Anyway, the drive is in my system, and happily re-mirroring my content, 
which means the 80G drive I was using as a temporary spare will soon be 
free, allowing me to attempt a RH8 install on my new NVidea chipset 
motherboard (A7N8X-deluxe).  If all goes well, I am going to try to 
implement two consoles (using my dual-head graphics card and a USB 
KB/Mouse in addition to the normal PS/2), so my wife can have her own 
"computer" without the extra expense and hassle of building another 
complete box.  I'll let everyone know (and provide how-to details) if I 
get this working.

-- 
Charles Steinkuehler
charles@steinkuehler.net